


Capturing the Moment

by americanKarkat



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Genderfluid Bill Cipher, Human Bill Cipher, M/M, Trans Dipper Pines, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-07 21:07:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5470796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americanKarkat/pseuds/americanKarkat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With a heavy project coming up, Dipper seems like he doesn't have much time for anything. Of course, life has other plans and has to tutor the inferior Bill Cipher. On top of that, he gets into a small argument with Mable and seems "out of it" for a majority of the time. Maybe the slight, small break will be good for the both of them?</p>
<p>//discontinued, sorry dudes</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Dipper has never noticed anyone besides him, his sisters, and the people friends with her, or trying to flirt. When Dipper is pulled off to the side by the teacher to help tutor someone, of course he agrees, only he doesn't exactly love the boy he's stuck with. He already has his own problems. When you're considered a nerd and you all of a sudden hang out with a popular kid, not to mention the most popular kid at the school, that adds another list to the bunch. Granted, though, Bill Cipher isn't exactly the most worry free kid out there, probably far from it, actually.
> 
> Bill may seem cocky, arrogant, and an all round douche bag, but he's just trying to live up to his family name. Being a Cipher, he has to constantly be the best, to stand above all, and he does that just fine; he just has a slight problem getting good grades. He was actually probably one of the smartest kids in the school, he has just been busy. With winter rolling around, the weather gets colder, making his off time almost unmanageable. Almost. On top of all that, his mother has gotten pretty sick and his father has been pushing company documents into his hands ever since he turned sixteen.  
> It also doesn't help that they're pretty much gender fluid, though.

"Can anyone tell me what the Pythagorean Theorem is?" The teacher, Mrs.Carlson, asked, searching through the crowd of tenth graders. Her eyes lingered onto a boy with chocolate brown hair, whose face was nose deep into a story book.  
"Mr.Pines?" she called. The boy nearly dropped the book in surprise. He heard a few snickers and coughs. He pleaded towards the teacher to not make him speak, but to his avail, she only stood there and waited.

"U-Um... Uh..." he started, feeling sweat bead up onto his forehead. "I don't know...?" he lied, cowering even more when he heard barks and howls of laughter coming from the classmates. He held back a whimper when he felt something kick the back of his chair.

"Settle down, settle down!" the teacher yelled. It took a while, but the class finally did. She opened her mouth to speak, but the bell rang, killing the string of words about to come out. Sighing, she paused everyone's movements by holding a hand up.  
"Don't forget to do your homework, page 370: even numbers only. Dipper, please come see me, the rest of you are dismissed."

Once everyone ran out of the room, Dipper reluctantly came up to the teacher, backpack situated on his shoulders.

"The Pythagorean Theorem, well the formula, is a squared plus b squared equals c squared. You use it to figure out if a triangle is a right triangle or not," he rambled, playing a bit with the straps of his backpack. He looked anywhere but the teacher, but still caught her gaze somehow.  
"Sorry, I can't speak in front of a crowd, a-and especially if they're all staring. I know all the information but it doesn't voice whenever there's a crowd-" The kind smile of the teacher killed the other words.

"Relax, Mr.Pines, you aren't in trouble at all," she soothed. This made Dipper confused.

"I'm- I'm not?" The teacher shook her head, a kind smile present on her face.

"No, not at all. You see, the reason I've called you is because I have a student who's slacking in class, for better terms. I've told him to meet a tutor in the library during lunch time. He said he'll try it out. He's a good guy. I've taken enough of your time, and my current class's. Here's a note to your next class."

x X x

"You're leaving me during lunch?" Mabel, his twin sister, asked, slamming his book down. He flinched at the sudden burst of sound and the aggression from his sister.

"I-it's just for today, I swear!" He defended, looking up slightly. "It's not like you even talk to me during lunch, anyways. You have Candy and Grenda for company most of the time," he mumbled under his breath. Mabel, however, heard anyways and had a hurt expression on her features.

"I'm sorry, but maybe you should be more outgoing and fun instead of being cooped up in your little bubble, just reading!" she countered. Once the words left her mouth, it was Dipper's turn to feel hurt and Mabel regretted it instantly.  
"Dipper, I-" Before she could finish, the bell rung and she had to go back to her seat, unable to apologize nor take back what she said. The teacher walked to the front of the class from behind her desk.

"As you may or may not know," she started, eyes tracking the class, "in this class, there are quite a few projects. I don't limit the imagination, so you're free to join projects with people other than the ones in your class period. For this project, you will be able to choose your own partners. If you do a good enough job, I will continue to allow it. If not, I will be choosing your partners from now on." Half of the class let out a groan.

"This class, of course, is photography class," she continued without beating an eye lash towards the groans. "So for this project, you and your partner will have to take a picture and present said picture to the entire school in two weeks. It's a tradition here, since this is the best course out of the entire school that can even do a presentation like this. I hope you won't disappoint me because if you do, not only will you get a bad grade, you will also make a fool out of yourself in front of the entire student body, faculty, and a few art directors are also planning on coming." Dipper's gaze, despite being angry with the person, found Mabel's line of sight, but quickly looked away, coincidentally the same time the twin had.  
"The project is due on September 19, but you'll present two days after. The main objective of this photo project is to show that a single photo can tell a thousand words, a story if you will. You are expected to do a two to three minute presentation on the reason why you chose to capture the picture as you did, why you chose to capture that picture, and how you came up with the story idea. Use the remainder of the time to think hard about the project and on your partner choice. Remember that your best friend might not be the best choice if you have a hard time staying on task with said person. Begin."

x X x

Walking during the lunch period without his sister was hard. Her words stung him deeply, wounded even, but he knew she didn't completely mean it. The person that has been with him through thick and thin, when their parents weren't exactly the most accepting, and yet she said those things. She was right, though. He didn't really try to talk to anyone besides his sister and her friends. The only people that he willingly spoke to that weren't majority linked to Mabel were Wendy and Soos, but that was because they work for his Great Uncle, Grunkle for short, Stan. Sighing, he pushed his way into the library to see it mostly empty, only a head of blond hair at a lone table occupied the room.

Hearing the door open, the stranger turned around to allow Dipper to yelp in recognition and drop his book. The boy was the very popular Bill Cipher, captain of basically every athletic sport in the school.

"Yeesh, kid, you look like you're seeing a ghost right now," the blond joked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've spelt Mabel's name wrong this entire time, rip me


	2. Into the Wolve's Den

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mabel breaks down because she can't stand not being with her other half. An unexpected person helps Mabel out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly didn't expect to update this so early, rip, but you guys made me happy and :')

Out of everything Mabel Pines has done and regretted, hurting her brother's feelings was something she hadn't planned on ever happening. Sure they joked around a lot, but there was never an actual dispute where Dipper felt the need to ignore her, even when she called out for him. It hurt.

"Mabel, are you okay?" She heard a voice ask. "You don't look too good." The brunette looked up to see one of her friends, Grenda, look down on her, worried. She tried to smile, but it wavered.

"Yeah, I'm-" Her voice faltered. She tried again. "I'm fine- Just- Problems, you know? I need to use the restroom."

Before Grenda or Candy could stop her, she dashed out of the cafeteria, covering her eyes so no one could really see her tears. Never had she cried during school, well in high school, but today she couldn't handle it. Dipper had left her for someone and she didn't even know who. She hadn't meant for those words to come out, but she just couldn't help it. Of course she knew why Dipper was so antisocial and in a bubble. That's why they were siblings. The one time he tried to be social, though, Mabel tried to stop him.

'I'm such an idiot,' she thought.

Turning the corner, she collided with someone. As gravity would have it, the two of them fell down from the impact.

"Hey, you freak, why don't you- Mabel?" a voice, feminine, called. Strangely, the brunette couldn't match a face with the voice. She wiped at her eyes and smiled weakly. With a shaky voice, she replied,

"That's my name, don't wear it out." She laughed dryly. She and Dipper used to say those types of things to each other all the time. When she finally looked up, her eyes widened and she tilted her head to the side a bit.  
"Pacifica? Oh dear, oh gosh, I'm- You're-" she stuttered, then hurriedly got off of her. She was glad it was currently lunch time and that no one was nearby. "Sorry- I just- I like your dress," she blurted. The blonde in front of her just stared up at her in bewilderment. The latter got up, with rushed help from Mable, and dusted off some 'dirt' from her clothing.

"Don't worry about it and... Thanks," she replied. She looked up and down at Mabel's appearance and tutted and disapproval.  
"I don't usually do this but..." She sighed, holding a hand out for Mabel. "Come on. My father like owns this school. I have a secret room where no one can bother us."

x X x

Mabel was brought to a room on the third floor. She was situated onto a bed while Pacifica searched through a small room, probably a closet. For what seemed to be an eternity, the blonde finally got out of the room and in her hands was a soft pink jacket. She handed it to Mable.

"Your uh... Sweater is kind of dirty," she explained, refusing to meet her eyes. Mabel could have sworn that the richer girl was blushing slightly, but ran the thought off after realizing who she was thinking about. This was Pacifica Northwest; the most popular girl in the town, school, and probably even the country.  
"Anyways, I don't really... Know much about you but you're that one girl whose always like... Super happy, right? You want to... Talk about it?" Mabel could hear the strain in the latter's voice. She must not be used to being nice. The brunette smiled as she took off her sweater and replaced it with the jacket Pacifica gave her.

"It's just- Dipper, my brother- He's always been there for me, you know? And today he... Well he went off and ditched me for someone else. He said it was just for today but... What if it's not just for today? What if he leaves me forever? What if- What if-" At this point, Mabel was sobbing. Pacifica looked at the sobbing teen with pity. Sighing, she engulfed the latter in an awkward hug, not used to comforting other people. Oddly enough, she didn't care that the girl was getting tears over her outfit, wrinkling it as well.

She didn't know what had prompted her to even help the human. All of her life, she had been taught to despise everyone lower than her, which was pretty much everyone except for her parents. Something about the brunette pulled at her chest, somewhere where she thinks her heart's supposed to be, though. It bothered her that she didn't know why her chest hurt every time the latter wasn't smiling.

"It doesn't... seem like you you really want to face your brother any time soon. Would you like to stay at my house for the night?" She had offered, knowing fully well how much trouble she would get into if her parent found out. She was pretty much throwing everything she had for this girl.

"Why are you doing this?" The blonde heard the other ask. "You're like... The most popular girl in school. You're always really mean to people and you treat everyone like trash if they don't let you gain something. What would you gain in doing this?"

"I don't know... You're different, I guess." She stared up at the ceiling of the room, getting lost into her thoughts. "You're always happy and smiling, not letting mean comments get to you. You always brush them off so easily, not letting any negative emotion you may or may not feel surface onto your face. I've despised you for that, actually. It's weird though," she chuckled. "The one, and probably only, time I see you sad... I'm trying to take you out of it."  
"It's like I don't want you to change or do that. It's weird."

Right after she said the final word, the per-warning bell rung, snapping Pacifica out of her trance.  
"Ah... I guess I talked a bit too much, huh... Well we'd better get to class. You want me to walk you or are you alright?"

"Yeah I'd... I'd like that," the brunette replied, the usual bright smile returned onto her features. The two locked hands, though separated when they got to the main halls.

"Sorry, but I still have an image to uphold... I hope you don't mind." Right before the blonde could escape from the safe haven between the two, Mabel reached out to her and grabbed her hand.

"I'd uh- I'd really like it if I could sleep over tonight." The blonde smiled softly towards her and took out a purple pen, scrawling something onto a piece of paper then handing it to the brunette.

"Text me your locker number and I'll pick you up." With those words, she continued on her way to class, instantly engulfed into the crowds. Mabel held the number close to her chest, sliding down the wall behind her.

"Shit, man, Pacifica Northwest gave me her phone number."


	3. Studies and Plans

"Yeesh, kid, you look like you're seeing a ghost right now," the blond joked. Out of all the people that could have been elected, Bill Cipher had to be the one. Bill Cipher, the most popular guy in school, had perfect, golden blond hair. His eyes were an eccentric robin egg blue, faint freckles danced around them. Every girl practically swooned over him, he has even made a few boys, including himself if he even counted, think over their sexual preference.

"Are you the tutor Mrs.Erickson told me about?" Bill asked, snapping Dipper out of his trance, raising an eyebrow as he watched the shorter boy scramble to pick up his papers and book. He could only nod, frantically making his way to the desk.

"So you're the student..?" he questioned, setting down everything, not trusting himself to keep it stable in his hands. The latter just nodded, an amused gaze in his eyes.

"The name's Bill. Bill Cipher. Call me whatever you want to, kid," he responded, winking an eye at the boy. Dipper felt his cheeks' temperature rise, but subdued it. The shorter boy of the two had to resist the urge of replying something along the lines of, 'It's nice to meet you, whatever you want to,' and shot a small, forced smile to the blond.

"Dipper. My name is Dipper," he responded. The latter only chuckled in response. Dipper was confused on why he was. Did he say something wrong?

"I know who you are, kid. You're the brother of Mabel Pines, who always has his back for her and doesn't take anything from anyone when they try to mess with the girl or her friends," he replied. Dipper could only blink. Is that what everyone thought of him? Sure it was true, but was he really only known with a relation to his sister?  
"You're also," the blond adding, cutting off Dipper's line of thought, "considered one of the dumbest kids in school, yet you get one of the highest test scores. You stutter when you're nervous or stressed, you have a small fan group that consists of all genders, surprisingly, and you're an all round teacher's favourite. Shocking, the last part."

'How did he know all of this?' the brunt thought, the shock was registered on his features. "I didn't think someone of such high social class would even bother with me." The blond barked out a laugh.

"I'll tell you the answer to that when I deem you good enough, hon," Dipper's cheeks flushed once again. He didn't realize that he had thought it aloud.

"Right, well ah- What- What are you struggling in, anyways?" He asked, changing the subject to something else.

"Eh... Everything, actually," the blond confessed. "I don't really pay attention in class."

"What?"

"What's so hard to believe?" Bill leaned back on the back two legs of his chair. "Don't some people in your class no pay attention~?"

"Well yeah but those are the..." Dipper trailed off, staring at the blond teen in front of him, "...people who don't care at all about grades or anything." He paused, staring hard at Cipher. "What's your game here?"

"Tell you later. Give me your phone number and locker number, I'll meet you at your locker so then we can 'study' at your place." Dipper was about to retort, but then Bill cut him off. "Time's a ticking, Pine Tree, are you really gonna disappoint your teacher by not even attempting to tutor me~?" The brunt huffed out in annoyance, taking a pen out and scrawling his phone number onto the latter's hand. Below the number, he wrote his locker code.  
"That's the spirit! See you later, then."

'I hate him so much,' Dipper thought, hissing in pain as he realized that he pushed the chair into his finger. Well that's not going to hurt at all!

\- - - - - - - -

Bill smiled in victory as he rewrote the numbers into his notebook. For now, he would be happy with just spending time with the boy. He didn't know Dipper would the the one tutoring him, of course, it just sort of fell right into place.

Bill Cipher, the most popular guy in school, had a reputation, though. Even though mostly everyone knew that he was a very gay butterfly, he still acted like the stereotypical straight kid you see in movies. He played sports, failed most of his classes (on purpose, though), and was pretty popular in the female crowds.

He didn't know when he first noticed the boy- Maybe it was in late September when he had dropped his notebook after bumping into the mentioned brunt and then afterwards seeing the brunt practically throwing it to him, as if he didn't even want to associate himself with the blond. Bill chuckled lowly at the memory, watching the kids file in from the lunch time ending rush.

Bzzzt. Bzzzt.

His eyebrows knitted in confusion. Who would text him in school?

He unlocked the device and read the sender and then text.

[ Jamie  
x-xxx-xxx-xxxx  
Hey, Bill, I know you're in school but one of the kids aren't feeling so well. Do you mind coming over and attempt to cheer them up? ]

[ You  
x-xxx-xxx-xxxx  
ah, can't today. i have this tutoring thing for math class or w/e.  
i'll visit tomorrow for sure, though. maybe if it's not too late, i'll swing by and cheer them up. ]

[ Jamie  
x-xxx-xxx-xxxx  
No, that's okay. Sorry to distract you from class. Hope you do well in your studies. ]

[ You  
x-xxx-xxx-xxxx  
send the kid my salutations (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ]

The orphanage was always alive. Once he locked his phone and actually tried to pay attention, though, his phone vibrated again.  
'Jeez, I'm popular today,' he thought, unlocking it again once more.

[ Jay  
x-xxx-xxx-xxxx  
hey srry to bother u but were in dire need of assistance and i need to know if you can come ]

[ Jay  
x-xxx-xxx-xxxx  
not today but  
on the weekend if that's cool ]

[ You  
x-xxx-xxx-xxxx  
not sure, actually. usually i'd be pretty hyped to go, but i'm not too sure where my schedule lands at ]

[ Jay  
x-xxx-xxx-xxxx  
did u find a cute boy  
if u did, ur totally off the hook for this week ]

[ You  
x-xxx-xxx-xxxx  
yeah, but unfortunately he's unavailable for my taking. he's tutoring me in maths ]

[ Jay  
x-xxx-xxx-xxxx  
tough luck, kiddo. well good luck studying  
I didn't even kno kids these days still did that, oh ]

[ You  
x-xxx-xxx-xxxx  
nah, we still do  
okay but i'm pretty sure the teacher looked over at me so I gotta bounce  
see you later ]

[ Jay  
x-xxx-xxx-xxxx  
have fun! ]

Bill sighed under his breath as he locked his phone and slid it into his bag. Although he know he had a bunch of paper work back home to deal with, being the heir of the Cipher Incorporation, he understood that his math grade wasn't really the best. The other subjects could be fixed easily, but he just didn't understand the concept of math and numbers. Being a 'cool kid' helped him disguise that fact in a façade.

Some popular kids were busy getting down and dirty with other teenagers and bad chemicals. Bill Cipher, though, was busy with juggling attention from orphanages, soup kitchens, hospitals, paperwork, and school.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks mum ouo


End file.
